Eight people were arrested today over the murder of a man because of a suspected drug debt.
Lee Slattery, 24, from the Ballynanty area of Limerick was found shot dead and buried in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Moyross four days after going missing in May.
The five men and three women, aged from their mid-teens to early 40s, were detained in a series of raids across the north and south of the city
A Garda spokesman said elite armed officers from the Southern Regional Support Unit and detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation made the arrests.
A number of searches were also carried out.
The eight suspects were being questioned at various stations in Limerick and Clare.
Five were being held under section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be detained for a week and the other three were being held under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and can be detained for 72 hours.
The murder was linked to the McCarthy-Dundon crime gang.